sweeney todd
by Slash-Fairy247
Summary: Based on the 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd and the hit Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd a.k.a Benjamin Barker returns to London after being sent away by Judge Turpin with the help of a sailor, Anthony Hope. He
1. The Vovage Home

The virgin Journey of the Bountiful was that from Plymouth to London. On the ship there were 6 sailors including on by the name of Anthony Hope. Anthony was no more than five days older than 18 wen the voyage began. On the third day out at sea Anthony spotted a man floating on a makeshift raft. "Man O'er Board" he called out to the others on the ship. The sailors hauled the man onto the ship and gave him a warm towel to wrap himself in.

the man was pale and had long black hair with a large white stripe on the right side

of his head. He wore shabby clothes that looked as though they had been torn up by a large dog. Anthony asked the man his name "Sweeney Todd" the man replied.

"Well, then Mr. Todd let me be the first to welcome you upon the Bountiful. We are headed to London and I would be honored if you would consider me your friend and companion." Mr. Todd said but two words in response "Of course". The rest of the journey was in silence until the end.

"Ah, there's no place like London eh Mr. Todd"

"you are still young boy, life has been kind to you. You will soon learn that the cruelties of this world are many."

Anthony, drawn back by the severeness of his friend's dark comment, mustered up the courage to ask Mr. Todd a question. "Mr. Todd"

"What is it boy"

"What Brought you to that raft out in the middle of the rough ocean."

"Long ago, there was a naive barber who was married to the most beautiful woman in the world" Mr. Todd Began "there was a another man who longed for the company of the barbers wife, he was a pious vulture of the law. And with one foul swoop of his tyrannical talons he separated the barber from his wife. He sentenced the man to imprisonment for life."

"What was his crime"

"Foolishness" was Mr. Todd's Reply "now I must go Anthony. There is somewhere I must go something I must do, now, and alone."

"But we will meet again before I am off to Plymouth?"

"If you want you may well find me. Around Fleet St., I wouldn't wonder."

"Well," Anthony stuttered "Until we Meet again Mr. Todd."


	2. The Baker

As Sweeney walked through the streets of London he felt the ghostly shadows of the things in his past. He smelled the rotting garbage on the side of the road and cringed as the rats scurried through the streets. He finally arrived at his destination after about half an hour of walking. He stood on the street looking up at his old apartment. His eyes traveled down to view an old sign hanging above the first floor door. "Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies. Just like mother used to make." Sweeney walked into the pie shop and was startled by a woman's scream "AH, a customer," Nellie Lovett shouted from behind a counter. "Please take a seat, would you like a pie,their not very good. In fact they are probably the worst in all of London." Mrs. Lovett looked down at the counter in front of her and saw something scurry past her hand. "EWW, what is that."

Sweeney looked around the shop "If times are so hard why don't you rent out the room upstairs."

"upstairs?" Mrs. Lovett said in a startled matter "oh no, no-one will go near it. You see something happened up there, something not very nice. A woman once lived up there, Lucy her name was, Lucy Barker. She was married to a barber, and a beautiful barber at that. They had a little baby girl named Johanna, cutest little baby you will ever see. One day a judge by the name of Turpin came and took away the barber. Distraught by the loss her husband Lucy went down to the apothecary on the corner and bought a vile of arsenic. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen to me." at this Sweeney began to sob very loudly "So it is you Benjamin Barker."

"Not Barker, that man is dead. It's Todd now Sweeney Todd. And he will have his revenge."

"you going to _get him. _You, a bleeding nobody of a runaway convict? Not in a million years."

"I WILL get them. If I have to sweat in the sewers or in the plague hospital I will get them!" Sweeney shouted. He had an angry look on his face as if ready to break somebodies neck in two.

Mrs. Lovett took a giant leap of step back. "Wait!" she cried out in an elated voice "It don't have to be the sewers or the plague hospital for you"  
"What do you mean by that" Sweeney asked.

"Follow me deary." Mrs. Lovett took Sweeney by the hand and led him out the door and up a long steep staircase that brought them to the door of Mr. Todd old home. "come on then you go first." Mr. Todd entered the room and felt the sadness of his past rush over him in one foul swoop. He walked through the apartment looking at all the familiar objects now covered with dust due to years of neglect. "come over here love" Mrs. Lovett yelled from the other side of the apartment. When Sweeney walked into the room he recognized it immediate. It was his old tonsorial parlor. Mrs. Lovett was crouched down on one side of the room trying to pry up a loose floor board. _Snap _Mrs. Lovett finally got the floor board up and pulled a leather case out of the whole in the floor "When Judge Turpin came for little Johanna I hid them. Cracked in the head wasn't I, times as bad as they are I could've gotten five maybe ten pounds for them any day." Mrs. Lovett opened the leather case to reveal the most beautiful razors in all of London. "Them Handles is chased silver ain't they."

"Silver, yes" Mr. Todd hadn't seen his razors in fifteen years and now they were his only friends. He whispered softly to them as Mrs. Lovett watched in awe at the way Sweeney handled his old razors. He looked longingly at them as if looking at an old lover from years ago. Mrs. Lovett caught Sweeney mutter something about his razors dripping with rubies and became worried about what he was talking about. As Sweeney stood up eh said "15 years sweating in a living hell on a trumped up charge. 25 years of dreaming I might come home to a loving wife and child. Let him quake in his boots for his hour has come."

"You going to, kill 'im. With a razor?" Mrs. Lovett looked skeptical but there was a flame in Sweeney's eyes that she dare not get to close to for fear of getting burned.

Sweeney, not noticing Mrs. Lovett's existence at all, raised his razor above his head and Shouted "At last my arm is complete again."


End file.
